Less than two months ago, Land Rover unveiled the new Range Rover in India. It is set to go on sale in other key markets later this year / early next year. Due to its pricing, the Range Rover barely sells in India. The vehicle is brought in as a completely built unit from the UK. CBU models are taxed at a hefty 110% plus, which results in the price of the vehicle becoming more than double. Thus the new Range Rover range is expected to start at a price of Rs. 1.5 crore ($ 270,562). For the record, the Audi Q7 costs half as much. The Q7 is brought in as a CKD, resulting in much lower duties.

The new Range Rover is being launched so quickly in India, because the demand for high-end luxury cars is increasing. Usually manufacturers take 6 months to a year to launch a product in India after its global unveil. The X1 is BMW’s most important model in India, but the facelift is yet to arrive here. Currently, luxury cars (including the German trio) sell less than 25,000 units a year in India. Due to the rather small market, companies are not investing in local manufacturing just yet.

The new Range Rover will be offered in both gasoline and diesel options. Land Rover is expected to sell the initial allotment within a month of launch. Tata Motors owns JLR, which has resulted in the speedy launch, taking place on the 30th of November.

Faisal Ali Khan is the editor of MotorBeam.com, a website covering the automobile industry of India.

Heh, everything is cheaper everywhere without that pesky taxes! Too bad we consumers can’t really get around that. Manufacturers, however, can take steps to reduce taxes on their product, which is what Tata is doing. More power to them!

Similarly, the Mercedes ML has just recently been assembled locally here in Indonesia (from CKD), as a result, its price went down by some $20,000!